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| Afghanistan |
| Would-be suicide bomber begs for pardon |
| 2008-01-08 |
| A TEENAGE would-be suicide bomber begged for a presidential pardon in Afghanistan as he was paraded in front of media cameras with his deadly vests displayed behind him. The 18-year-old, named as Hameedullah, said he had worked as a labourer in Pakistan and had been influenced by a villager loyal to the Pakistani Taliban to carry out deadly attacks against foreign troops and "infidel" Afghan forces. "I came to Afghanistan, to Helmand province," he said at a press conference held by Afghan counter-terrorism police. "I was handed over to other Taliban. They were preaching jihad all day long. They said Afghanistan is invaded by foreign troops and Afghan police are the army are infidels as well. "After days of preaching one day they said 'who is ready to carry out a suicide attack?' I said I am. I apologise to the Afghan people and President (Hamid) Karzai. I beg them to forgive me." The teenager was arrested together with another suicide attacker, Alaam Gul who is also from Quetta, Pakistan, 10 days ago in Helmand province. They were plotting suicide attacks against Helmand's governor and foreign troops, and were arrested along with two Afghan associates, he said. Their suicide vests were wired to remote-controlled detonators and featured a button they could press near the target. "The explosives in these suicide vests are new to us," counter-terrorism police chief Abdul Manaan Farahi said. "They are very strong, dangerous and powerful and not of the kind available in Afghanistan. It is either provided by a foreign country or they have got it from the black market," he said. Mr Karzai has previously pardoned a 14-year-old Pakistani who was arrested just before carrying out a suicide attack. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #2 Pardon him so he can try again? Sorry, pal. You play, you pay. |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-01-08 23:21 |
| #1 I came to Afghanistan, to Helmand province I came to Helamnds, and brought out teh vest. High fives all around, while I drive around the walls of Rantburg in my Triumph. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2008-01-08 19:14 |